Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How different PC motivations support sandbox and campaign play
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 7424007" data-attributes="member: 21169"><p>There are two main PC motivations in rpgs. Firstly, the pursuit of personal gain, usually money and/or magic items. Secondly the desire to defeat evil.</p><p></p><p>The first motivation, personal gain, works well with sandbox play because the game world typically contains a great many opportunities to acquire wealth and magic items - there are lots of dungeons. The second motivation, defeat evil, doesn't work so well because the amount of evil beings within easy reach of the PCs and also actively and obviously causing harm will be far fewer. </p><p></p><p>A third possible motivation is the pursuit of glory, like the heroes of the Iliad or the PCs in Pendragon, but this is unusual in rpgs. A fourth, thrillseeking, is also unusual.</p><p></p><p>Once the PCs have achieved significant wealth it's hard to justify why they would want more. Or at least, why they would expose themselves to great danger in pursuit of more. So the first motivation, personal gain, doesn't work well for long term campaign play. The second motivation, defeat evil, does as there will always be more evil.</p><p></p><p>How does one successfully combine sandbox and campaign play? The answer, it seems to me, is PCs who are motivated by personal gain but, if they ever successfully acquire fortunes, immediately lose or quickly squander them, in the manner of Conan.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Doug McCrae, post: 7424007, member: 21169"] There are two main PC motivations in rpgs. Firstly, the pursuit of personal gain, usually money and/or magic items. Secondly the desire to defeat evil. The first motivation, personal gain, works well with sandbox play because the game world typically contains a great many opportunities to acquire wealth and magic items - there are lots of dungeons. The second motivation, defeat evil, doesn't work so well because the amount of evil beings within easy reach of the PCs and also actively and obviously causing harm will be far fewer. A third possible motivation is the pursuit of glory, like the heroes of the Iliad or the PCs in Pendragon, but this is unusual in rpgs. A fourth, thrillseeking, is also unusual. Once the PCs have achieved significant wealth it's hard to justify why they would want more. Or at least, why they would expose themselves to great danger in pursuit of more. So the first motivation, personal gain, doesn't work well for long term campaign play. The second motivation, defeat evil, does as there will always be more evil. How does one successfully combine sandbox and campaign play? The answer, it seems to me, is PCs who are motivated by personal gain but, if they ever successfully acquire fortunes, immediately lose or quickly squander them, in the manner of Conan. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How different PC motivations support sandbox and campaign play
Top